


Teatime Confessions

by swimmingwolf59



Series: Cashepar Week 2019 [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, NB Byleth, Post-Time Skip, dumb boys in need of help, hints of byleth/claude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:09:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21580363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimmingwolf59/pseuds/swimmingwolf59
Summary: Ashe and Caspar both confide in Byleth about their feelings for each other. Byleth decides to intervene.Or in other words, Ashe and Caspar need a matchmaker, and Byleth is more than happy to fill the role.Cashepar Week 2019 Day 2: Teatime
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert
Series: Cashepar Week 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553584
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	Teatime Confessions

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t finished blue lions or played black eagles route yet, but I recruited both Ashe and Caspar into my golden deer run so they’re permanently golden deer kids in my mind lol. So sorry in advance for the byleth/claude hints in here, I couldn’t help myself xD;; Also this takes place post-timeskip, since it references Caspar and Ashe’s A-support.

“So, you and Caspar,” Byleth says, pouring mint tea for Ashe. They know it’s one of his favorites.

“Thank you.” Ashe takes the tea and downs about half of it, even though it’s supposed to be scalding. “What about him?”

“I’ve just noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with him lately,” Byleth says, leaning back in their chair. This is one of their favorite parts of teatime – making their students nervous. It’s not often that they actually notice things like this going on around them, so when they do, they take full advantage of it.

“…Well, we’ve been taking care of this cat together,” Ashe mumbles. “It’s a funny story, actually… We were both trying to catch the thief that had been raiding the pantry lately, but it ended up just being a cat. And, well…we decided to take care of it, so it won’t steal food anymore. Actually, I didn’t even know he was also feeding the cat until we both happened to go feed her at the same time!”

“The cat’s still in the pantry?”

“She was, but not anymore – we decided it’d be easier to just keep her with us, so now Caspar and I trade off weeks.”

_Like separated parents with a child,_ Byleth thinks, but they refrain from saying it out loud. “That’s sweet. But it doesn’t technically explain why you’ve been spending so much time with Caspar.”

“Do I need a reason?” Ashe snaps and then shrinks back. “Sorry Professor, I didn’t mean to yell… It’s just…complicated.”

“How so?” Byleth innocently sips their tea.

“Well I just, I thought he was so annoying at first, you know? Like he would just charge right into situations and make them way worse than they needed to be, and wouldn’t stop to think or try and understand where the other person was coming from.” Ashe shakes his head. “I was so mad at him the first time we tried to catch the ‘thief’.”

“Caspar does sometimes get into trouble for acting that way,” Byleth says. “But that’s just how he is. He can’t change how he is any more than you can.”

“Yeah, I realized that too.” Ashe smiles a little. “It’s kind of endearing in a way. Like his heart’s in the right place, his actions are just…not quite there.”

Byleth nods. “That’s a good way of thinking about it.”

“I mean, the day I found out he was also feeding our cat, he beat up an old man to get food for her!” Ashe laughs, covering his mouth with a hand. “I mean, it’s _terrible_ , like that poor old man, but also…I don’t know, it’s so ridiculous! He’s just so… _extreme_.”

“Sounds like you know him well,” Byleth says.

“Yeah…I guess I do, now.” Ashe smiles into his tea. “There’s just something about him that makes you like him.”

Byleth smiles. “That’s rather carefree of you, Ashe.”

“…I suppose it is.” Ashe sits back in his chair. “I just don’t know Professor, I feel so… _strange_ around him.”

“Strange how?”

“I think…” Ashe breaks off and covers his bright red face with his hands. “I can’t say it, it’s too embarrassing.”

Byleth tilts their head innocently. “You like him.”

Ashe whimpers, which is an answer of itself. “What do I do, Professor? I can’t just… _tell_ him!”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Ashe clutches his hair in his hands. “Because…it isn’t practical. I mean, he’s a noble of the _Empire_ and I’m just…me.”

Byleth stews on this for a moment. They had never really had to deal with issues such as this before coming to the Monastery because they had always just grown up with their father around other mercenaries. For a long time, they hadn’t even known there _were_ nobles in Fódlan. But perhaps that gives them a unique perspective that can help their friend.

“Class matters to some people. And to others in our army, I think it matters a lot. But you were all once students at the Academy, and now we’re all on the same side of a war. Those two things make us all equal, I think. And your feelings are just as valid as a noble’s – they’re not somehow ‘less worthy’ just because you’re not of noble birth.”

“But…it’d be a _scandal_ …”

“Then be a scandal,” Byleth says, crossing their arms. “You’ve never cared about people’s opinions before, Ashe. Don’t you think Caspar would be just fine with that?”

Ashe sighs. “That’d be just the thing he’d be into, wouldn’t it?” But then he smiles a little. “Okay, Professor, I see what you’re saying. I’ll think about it.”

“Good luck, Ashe,” Byleth says, smiling a little.

“Thanks.” Ashe’s smile suddenly turns mischievous. “Alright Professor, now it’s your turn – tell me about you and Claude.”

“…What about him?”

Ashe laughs. “If you were anyone else, I’d think you were deflecting, but you really don’t know, do you, Professor? Alright, I won’t spoil it for you, then.”

Ashe leaves soon after, and Byleth sits there, puzzled.

…Weren’t they talking about Caspar? How did Claude fit into it?

Byleth shakes their head. Oh well, it must not be important.

\--

“Professor, I don’t know what to do,” Caspar sighs before Byleth can say anything, or even pour his tea.

They dig around in their stash for ginger tea leaves. “About what?”

Caspar sighs, in such an expressive way that it immediately makes Byleth look up. “Ashe.”

Byleth blinks. Ashe hadn’t told them that they’d brought up what they’d talked about before with Caspar, so it’s impossible to know how much Caspar knows about the situation. So they take the safe route and say, “What about him?”

“Oh Professor, where do I even start?” Caspar leans his elbows on the table, a very un-noble-like and very Caspar-like gesture. “He’s smart, and funny, and handsome, and I…well, I can’t stop thinking about him!”

“…Is that a bad thing?”

“No! …Well, sort of – Lysithea’s always yelling at me for slacking off, because I get distracted thinking about him sometimes.” Caspar frowns a bit. “I’m not slacking off, by the way! I train every day!”

“I believe you.” Byleth’s seen the broken training dummies scattered around the training grounds after Caspar and Raphael have been there. “So, what’s the problem?”

Caspar stares down at the table. “Well, I mean, I’m not the smartest guy around, but…I think I love him?”

Byleth sits back in their chair. It’s all they can do to keep from smiling. They say again, “So, what’s the problem?”

“Ashe is _so_ out of my league Professor, like…I think he only tolerates me because I’m the co-owner of our cat.” Caspar leans his cheek on a palm and sighs. “Why would a guy like him even _glance_ at a guy like me?”

_I thought I missed a lot, but_ these _boys,_ Byleth thinks. “I think you’re too hard on yourself. Ashe probably thinks the same thing about you.”

“What?! But _how_?! Ashe is amazing – he can cook, and pick locks, and shoot an arrow, and fly a wyvern, and—”

“Have you considered telling him any of this?” Byleth cuts in.

Caspar looks horrified. “No, are you kidding? He’d know _exactly_ how I felt, then!”

“…You don’t want him to know?”

“Well, I _do_ , but…ah Professor, I’ll just say it – it really scares me. I can’t stand the thought of him avoiding me…”

Byleth stares. “…Have you considered the possibility that he might like you back?”

By the look on Caspar’s face, he obviously hadn’t. “You…you really think he could?”

“Isn’t the chance of it worth the risk?”

Caspar thinks on this for a moment before grinning widely. “You know what, you’re _right,_ Professor! I should just tell him! I mean, what if he _does_ say yes? I’d be the luckiest guy in Fódlan!”

Byleth smiles. “Good luck, Caspar.”

“Thanks for your help, Professor! Say hi to Claude for me!” Caspar says, waving as he runs off.

Byleth stares after him, puzzled.

Why do people keep bringing up Claude during teatime?

\--

The next Sunday, both Ashe and Caspar turn down Byleth’s request for tea, so they know something is up.

“You look like you’re plotting something, Teach,” Claude says, putting his arms behind his head as Byleth passes him in the courtyard.

They smile at him. “I’m just following up on some work I was doing.”

Claude raises an eyebrow. “Tell me about it later, then?”

“Over tea?”

Claude grins. “It’s a date, Teach.”

Byleth continues on their way, something warm in their chest. …Huh. Maybe this is what Ashe and Caspar were referring to.

Perhaps they can’t give their former students shit about it when they don’t notice it themselves, either.

They start searching for them in the usual places. Caspar can usually be found at the training grounds or the fishing hole. Ashe can also be found at the fishing hole and sometimes in the greenhouse. However, neither of them are in any of these places. Byleth checks the mess hall too, and the pantry, but there’s no one there either, not even a cat.

There’s only one other likely place they’d be.

The old students’ dorms are silent as Byleth walks through. For a moment, they think maybe they were wrong, and start trying to think where else they should look, but a noise nearby stalls them in their tracks. They find themselves outside Ashe’s room, where the door is slightly ajar and the soft murmur of voices is seeping through.

They creep close enough to peer through the open door.

Sure enough, Ashe and Caspar are there. They’re standing very close, noses almost touching, eyes solely on each other. Byleth briefly sees them leaning in to kiss each other before Ashe kicks the door shut with his foot. Byleth allows themselves a moment to stand there and feel a small bit of pride and then they keep walking.

Looks like they figured it out after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/kaoru_of_hakone) ! c:


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